August 24, 2011
Recycling is Good for Art, too
Remember the Zodiac Babies? They were images I created while Finley (then a baby himself) was napping. Well now they are getting a new life as greeting cards on CardGnome.com. CardGnome is a company that creates high quality greetings utilizing wind-powered, recycled paper and organic inks, so not only are the images recycled, the cards are, too!
August 2, 2011
I do!
Here’s the newest Bublette in the collection – something for a bride to be. (Greeting card is active at: CardGnome.) The greeting says: Bubbly Congratulations!
For an added personal touch I created her dress by scanning the hem of my wedding gown. (Who says you only use it once?) The champagne bottle is part photograph, part drawing and part Photoshop magic.
I may do some versions of this as a New Years card. Mix up the colors and get rid of the train and veil. I may also do different skin color options – especially if I get requests for them.
Your feedback and suggestions are always welcome!
July 26, 2011
Skin Delima
Just when I thought the Nesting Bublette was complete, my hubster says, “The purple skin really isn’t doing it for me.” I would like to ignore him, dismiss his opinion, but the truth is, if he’s having a problem with it so will other people. (Husbands are people too, right?)
My goal was to find a skin tone that was ethnically ambiguous but also fun. I tried green and the poor girl looked sick or like she was going to invade our planet and populate it with her alien babies. I then tried blue and she looked like the kind of girl Captain James T. Kirk would really go for. What (eventually) occurred to me was that because the Bublette’s are already so stylized, adding an unusual color to the game just made them look… inhuman. And then the obvious solution came to me… I can have as many cards as I want on CardGnome.com, why not have a few skin tones to choose from? Here are the (pink haired) finals and samples of the (numbered) color trials.
July 24, 2011
It’s not shopping, it’s nesting!
I recently teamed up with Card Gnome, and Bublette greetings are available for sale on-line. I have to say, it’s feels pretty satisfying to click the “publish” button on these and know that the Bublettes are out in the world, making people smile.
The nesting Bublette was inspired by my experiences shopping as a mommy-to-be. I found myself strolling around Target feeling some major guilt for the expensive baby stuff that was piling up in my cart… but then I dismissed my self-loathing with the same phrase you’ll find on this card. There’s nothing wrong with nesting, right? What could be more natural?
By the way, her skin is purple because I was looking for a fun but ethnically neutral color for my girls. I tried her in green, but she just looked like she had morning sickness. Poor thing. Purple seemed like the way to go. (Feedback welcome as always!)
July 19, 2011
Cupug
This is a digital painting I made of Rocco, a dear friend’s sweetheart pug.
She told me one Valentine’s Day that Rocco was the fattest she had ever seen him. So I went about trying to imagine what he might look like completely round and so fat that his eyes were almost popping out of his skull. This is what I came up with.
Rocco passed away about a year and a half ago. I believe that Rocco is an angel now, enjoying the best cookies heaven has to offer.
xoxo Rocco! We miss you!
For more information on Karen Windness pet portraits, please visit: www.mudpuppystudios.com
July 9, 2011
Face Painting
Block party, 2011. I was volunteered to be this year’s face painter. This isn’t something I have a lot of experience with, but I think I managed to make some kids (and one drunk guy) pretty happy…
June 26, 2011
Valium, take me away!
Another image from my Bublettes collection.
No explanation needed, I think. 
Chocolate is Proof
I thought I had lost these images when my computer and backup drive crashed a few years ago – but I just found a DVD with this and many of my other licensing images. Hooray!
This image is one of my favorites from a line I call “Bublettes”. These sassy woman have beehive speech bubble hair that speaks for itself.
More to come!
